toddbarrett
off to a rocking start
Member since June 2020
Posts: 16
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Post by toddbarrett on Jun 22, 2020 14:36:26 GMT -5
Hello All: First time poster, and a newbie (well at least since I was 10 or 12) to rock tumbling. My first few tumbles went pretty badly, but through research and reading I have been getting better and my last two tumbles have went well! The first one was a "fancy Jasper" that I spent 6 weeks on the first stage (6QT Lortone with clean outs after each week), then a week each in stage 2, 3 and polish plus a 2 hour burnish. The Jasper looks great, but the batch after that was the one I had a little trouble with. It was Crazy Lace Agates, and I watched a video by Michigan Rob that helped me look for what to avoid before moving the rocks out of the first stage. So after 3 weeks of tumbling and removing ones with no blemishes, no holes or cracks, I was able to put enough stones together to move onto stage two. I am using Silicon Carbide 120 for stage two. After a week of tumbling I cleaned out the tumbler and lots of the stones now had lots of holes in them! I decided just to keep moving and see how they turn out in the end. I scrubbed them well to be sure no grit was left over, and moved on. After the final burnish, the stones were beautiful! They looked almost like glass, almost too shiny. :-) BUT, there were a few problem pieces, some with the holes as I described earlier, and some that had flat, rough spots that I assume is a different hardness then the rest of the stone? Is that why they didn't take a polish? Here is a photo of the said problem areas... I'm assuming that maybe I didn't notice the flat dull spots because the rocks were wet? I thought it was not a good idea to let them dry between stages so I never did and maybe missed that these spots would be in after the final polish. Any help with why I suddenly got new holes in my once "holefree" rocks at stage two, and is there a way to get the dull areas to shiny similar to the rest of the agates? Thank You! Todd Barrett Ramona, CA
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stonemon
Cave Dweller
Member since January 2017
Posts: 1,024
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Post by stonemon on Jun 22, 2020 14:59:13 GMT -5
Welcome to the forum from western Oregon!
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Post by pauls on Jun 22, 2020 16:11:04 GMT -5
The first photo is just a softer area in the stone, there's not a lot you can do about it. Second looks like hollows in the rock you have opened up, not a lot you can do about that either except grind/saw them out and start again.. To me it looks like you are doing a great job. Don't worry about the rocks drying between stages, if they are clean there's nothing to worry about. If you let a bunch of rocks dry out in the barrel while they are still in their slurry they might give you a bit of trouble.
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saxplayer
fully equipped rock polisher
Member since March 2018
Posts: 1,327
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Post by saxplayer on Jun 22, 2020 16:13:57 GMT -5
I agree with pauls - crazy lace is notorious for having the softer red/dark brown muddly/clay parts that are just softer. Continued tumbling exposes them. you can continue to cut them away and get them more perfect if you choose. Other times you can't do much. It's a trade off for crazy lace. Better quality rough (hard to find 100% good rough) won't have as much softer stone imbedded inside the regular stone.
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toddbarrett
off to a rocking start
Member since June 2020
Posts: 16
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Post by toddbarrett on Jun 22, 2020 17:03:54 GMT -5
pauls and saxplayer, thank you for the replies. I did notice, even in the pre-polish and polish stage when I would open the tumbler for clean out it would be red colored suds. So I guess the 120 grit still grinds away at the stones? I thought the rough grit was what did the material removing, and once you get past that, it is all just prepping for polish.
About 40% of them came out great, and I didn't want to try and keep grinding because they were getting pretty small! :-)
Thanks again for the help, I'm having a blast and looking forward to my next batch!
Todd B. Ramona, CA
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Post by knave on Jun 22, 2020 18:20:47 GMT -5
Welcome to the obsession! Wisconsin here.
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Post by pauls on Jun 22, 2020 19:52:03 GMT -5
Welcome from me in Australia too. Any time you need to know what's happening tomorrow I'm the bloke to ask. Yep it's already tomorrow here.
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saxplayer
fully equipped rock polisher
Member since March 2018
Posts: 1,327
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Post by saxplayer on Jun 22, 2020 20:57:05 GMT -5
pauls and saxplayer, thank you for the replies. I did notice, even in the pre-polish and polish stage when I would open the tumbler for clean out it would be red colored suds. So I guess the 120 grit still grinds away at the stones? I thought the rough grit was what did the material removing, and once you get past that, it is all just prepping for polish. About 40% of them came out great, and I didn't want to try and keep grinding because they were getting pretty small! :-) Thanks again for the help, I'm having a blast and looking forward to my next batch! Todd B. Ramona, CA Todd, You're correct that larger grit (smaller number) does more grinding. However, if rock is extremely soft- 500 and 1000 grit will still grind it away. This is commonly referred to "undercutting". If you search these forums for undercutting you can learn more. Bascially, if a rock has parts that are softer than others within the same rock - you have a chance of undercutting. Those pieces you posted pics of have softer matrix / mud that really is soft soft rock and has undercut away (hence they are more ground and out deeper than the outer surface). I have had this happen on lots of crazy lace pieces, mostly the ones that have the deep red and brown parts as it doesn't seem to be the same hard rock as the white lace parts. No worries - try another rock and I think if you tumble a mostly whole batch of the same rock you won't have undercutting with everything. It's common with this lace.
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Post by hummingbirdstones on Jun 22, 2020 22:27:32 GMT -5
Welcome Todd, from Northern Arizona!
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Post by Peruano on Jun 23, 2020 5:08:54 GMT -5
A cavity can add character and some can be filled with thick hobby glues and then polished down.
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Post by Peruano on Jun 23, 2020 5:09:06 GMT -5
A cavity can add character and some can be filled with thick hobby glues and then polished down.
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toddbarrett
off to a rocking start
Member since June 2020
Posts: 16
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Post by toddbarrett on Jun 23, 2020 13:40:48 GMT -5
pauls and saxplayer, thank you for the replies. I did notice, even in the pre-polish and polish stage when I would open the tumbler for clean out it would be red colored suds. So I guess the 120 grit still grinds away at the stones? I thought the rough grit was what did the material removing, and once you get past that, it is all just prepping for polish. About 40% of them came out great, and I didn't want to try and keep grinding because they were getting pretty small! :-) Thanks again for the help, I'm having a blast and looking forward to my next batch! Todd B. Ramona, CA Todd, You're correct that larger grit (smaller number) does more grinding. However, if rock is extremely soft- 500 and 1000 grit will still grind it away. This is commonly referred to "undercutting". If you search these forums for undercutting you can learn more. Bascially, if a rock has parts that are softer than others within the same rock - you have a chance of undercutting. Those pieces you posted pics of have softer matrix / mud that really is soft soft rock and has undercut away (hence they are more ground and out deeper than the outer surface). I have had this happen on lots of crazy lace pieces, mostly the ones that have the deep red and brown parts as it doesn't seem to be the same hard rock as the white lace parts. No worries - try another rock and I think if you tumble a mostly whole batch of the same rock you won't have undercutting with everything. It's common with this lace. Thanks for the detailed info. I do love the finished stones and would like to do more in the future. I was just checking to see if I did something obviously wrong to create those spots. The more I look at them, the more I think they add a bit of visual contrast. :-) Thanks again!
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toddbarrett
off to a rocking start
Member since June 2020
Posts: 16
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Post by toddbarrett on Jun 23, 2020 13:43:34 GMT -5
A cavity can add character and some can be filled with thick hobby glues and then polished down. Interesting... the larger flat spots are less offensive to me, but the holes I don't like. Filling them seems like a good idea. I will research more! Thanks for the tip! ~Todd B.
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saxplayer
fully equipped rock polisher
Member since March 2018
Posts: 1,327
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Post by saxplayer on Jun 23, 2020 13:45:27 GMT -5
Todd, You're correct that larger grit (smaller number) does more grinding. However, if rock is extremely soft- 500 and 1000 grit will still grind it away. This is commonly referred to "undercutting". If you search these forums for undercutting you can learn more. Bascially, if a rock has parts that are softer than others within the same rock - you have a chance of undercutting. Those pieces you posted pics of have softer matrix / mud that really is soft soft rock and has undercut away (hence they are more ground and out deeper than the outer surface). I have had this happen on lots of crazy lace pieces, mostly the ones that have the deep red and brown parts as it doesn't seem to be the same hard rock as the white lace parts. No worries - try another rock and I think if you tumble a mostly whole batch of the same rock you won't have undercutting with everything. It's common with this lace. Thanks for the detailed info. I do love the finished stones and would like to do more in the future. I was just checking to see if I did something obviously wrong to create those spots. The more I look at them, the more I think they add a bit of visual contrast. :-) Thanks again! They do add some character! Here are a few photos. Notice the redder areas have some undercutting. I attempted to saw away what I could before tumbling but sometimes in these rocks it is unavoidable.
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Post by Peruano on Jun 26, 2020 12:57:39 GMT -5
Try your local hobby store for a product called Hobby Proz maxicure. The pink top stuff is " extra thick" .they have a medium and a thin version too. Heat your rock a bit and fill cavity ( more than once if glue dries down) then sand and polish. Sometimes if glue still has a bit of grab some of the dust from edge of cavity will bind with glue and obscure the color difference or edge. My bottle has a phone number 505 3323797. The glue must be cured and too coarse of a wheel may pull it out so be gentle.
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Post by Peruano on Jun 26, 2020 12:57:54 GMT -5
Try your local hobby store for a product called Hobby Proz maxicure. The pink top stuff is " extra thick" .they have a medium and a thin version too. Heat your rock a bit and fill cavity ( more than once if glue dries down) then sand and polish. Sometimes if glue still has a bit of grab some of the dust from edge of cavity will bind with glue and obscure the color difference or edge. My bottle has a phone number 505 3323797. The glue must be cured and too coarse of a wheel may pull it out so be gentle.
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sujo
off to a rocking start
Member since June 2020
Posts: 2
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Post by sujo on Jun 26, 2020 23:01:51 GMT -5
I just got finished with the first step in the Lot-o-Tumbler and took the rocks out. I noticed some of the rocks have a gold streak on them when the light hits it...what is this from? It's not the end of the world, but I'd rather it not be there.
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Post by pauls on Jun 27, 2020 3:48:45 GMT -5
Did you wash them in a brass collander? It sounds like just a mark from metal, Aluminium does it too, don't worry about it nothing will mark the polished rocks and that mark will be long gone by then.
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Post by knave on Jun 27, 2020 6:02:19 GMT -5
Is it obsidian with a tough of mahogany coloring?
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